In its final preparations ahead of the first group test in February, Pirelli is completing an extensive test of its wet weather tyres in Abu Dhabi over the next two nights.

Pedro de la Rosa will complete six hours of testing each night, using both the intermediate and full wet tyres on a circuit soaked with water. It is the first dedicated test for the wet weather Pirelli compounds and the first ever overnight Formula One test.

The Italian tyre firm opted to test in Abu Dhabi due to the warmer track temperatures, which should be closer to the wet conditions it experiences during races this season.

"This is a unique opportunity to witness a Formula One test car on track at night in the wet and on hot tarmac, in an entirely floodlit setting," Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery explained. "We decided to do it this way because we want to challenge our rain tyres with the most difficult and demanding of all situations. And who knows, perhaps it could be a good idea for a future grand prix?"

"These tests will provide us with useful information to finalise our tyre development process for Formula One. It is seven months since we started developing our tyres and five since we started with the actual testing. We are very satisfied with the results so far and we have also collected very positive feedback from the teams.

Pirelli has now covered more than 13,000 kilometres on its new tyre compounds and is happy with the results so far. At the start of February the 12 F1 teams will sample the new tyres at Valencia, ahead of a month-and-a-half's heavy testing before the season opener in Bahrain on March 13.

"Soon it will be time to get started in Spain where the first official test of the season will take place," added Hembery. "We will use this opportunity to gather more feedback from teams and drivers and be ready for the Bahrain Grand Prix in March."

Pirelli is confident they will be able to offer teams a strong package during official testing next month following their latest private test in Abu Dhabi.

The Italian tyre manufacturer completed two nights of wet testing at the Yas Marina Circuit earlier this week with Pedro de la Rosa behind the wheel on both evenings.

"It's been an extremely positive test session here in Abu Dhabi, thanks to the fantastic facilities we've had available to us and the usual hard work from Pedro and the rest of our team," Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery said.

"We're very proud to have been part of creating a little bit of history by running a Formula One car at night for the first time on wet tyres: we very much believe that Pirelli will be able to contribute to the spectacle of Formula One in the future and seeing the car kicking up huge plumes of spray under the floodlights has certainly been an amazing sight that we will all remember for a long time.

"While we are well aware that we are new to Formula One and still have plenty to learn, I'm confident that we can approach the start of this year's official testing next month with a strong package."

De la Rosa believes Pirelli's compounds are both competitive and stable.

"In my opinion, Pirelli is ready now for Formula One," he said. "The dry tyre test went very well, and confirmed everything we had learned in Bahrain the week before. But the most original part of the test was when we were running at night on the wet tyres, which was as new an experience for me as it was for everyone else.

"The most important thing was that the water levels were consistent, which allowed us to have some accurate results from the test. At the end of it, we've come up with two tyres - wet and intermediate - which I believe are both competitive and stable."

its right on the persian gulf. the humidity can be stifling in summer. trust me i've been there. some trees have evolved with secondary roots over the ground to get water. not sure how they are planning to hold world cup soccer nearby in qatar in the middle of summer. hope they are planning to build indoor arenas otherwise there will be whole bunch of people and players literally cooked under 120+ temps in summer

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"I would quote everything pixelblue said, but you've already read it. Take it from someone who's put the 1 through its paces"

I like exciting racing like Canadian GP...but deliberately engineer tires to last shorter...makes me kind of iffy about it. but we'll see...it'll favor to those who baby their tires better....

Yeah, I'm a bit uneasy about this. I don't like the idea that it will reward the smoother drivers much more than than the aggressive drivers - last season seemed to have the right balance. I'm also worried that with the extra pit stops, we'll see more overtaking in the pits instead of on track ( = boring).

I am all for 'lottery' races like the Canadian GP, though . IMO, they should just soak the Abu Dhabi track right before the start of each race. Although that would probably piss off the environmentalists